Staying Relevant via The Network
This month, OSP® magazine had the pleasure of interviewing leaders from 4 rural providers who embrace the challenge of staying relevant by making significant network strides despite their size.
Why do we call them network evolutionaries? Because they embrace change while recognizing the responsibility to upgrade their legacy networks in the most fiscally responsible manner. They move forward with the newest technologies that will get their customers to Gigabit-land. And they prove that smaller can be more agile when it comes to network evolution.
In partnership with NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, please enjoy these feature interviews with 4 providers from dramatically different geographies:
Ed Cushing
Telecommunications Division Manager
Ketchikan Public Utilities
Ketchikan, Alaska
Mark Shlanta
CEO
SDN Communications
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Nancy White
President & CEO
North Central Telephone Cooperative
Lafayette, Tennessee
Jeff Wilson
CEO/General Manager
West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
Abbeville, South Carolina
After you read their thoughts, drop me a note and share some other folks you think OSP should feature as network evolutionaries. The more we learn from our collective telecom community, the more relevant we all have the potential to remain.
A special thank you to Shirley Bloomfield, NTCA’s CEO, and Laura Withers, NTCA’s Director of Communications, for facilitating these interviews.
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, an association of small, rural telecommunications providers, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in rural communities through advanced telecommunications by education, advocacy and cooperation.
NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, is a full-service association, offering a wide array of member services, including a highly effective government affairs program; expert legal and industry representation; a broad range of educational services; a comprehensive assortment of regular and special publications and public relations programs; and a well-rounded complement of national and regional meetings. For more information, please visit: www.ntca.org.
About the Author
Sharon Vollman
Content Ambassador for ISE EXPO
Sharon Vollman is the Content Ambassador for ISE EXPO. She is passionate about collaborating with thought leaders, SMEs and hard-working doers who design, plan and deploy ultra-reliable broadband networks. Vollman is committed to creating a variety of educational offerings for ISE EXPO attendees that inspire them to connect every U.S. citizen with the broadband networks we all want for our children and grandchildren.
Vollman has created educational partnerships with Broadband Service Providers including AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Frontier Communications and others. She has covered the telecom industry since 1996.